eWe-Ye MA-LEE

World class job creators like Jack Ma and Tim Berners Lee are interested in mapping systems defining the transformative possibilities of our net generation -eg what is the valuetrue livelihoods purpose of multi-trillion dolar value chain of the internet

eWe-Ye

Value Recommendation: millennials and open educators join in exploring how MA-LEE linkin every sustainable community to open up technology to W omen empowerment and Youth empowerment

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"The Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past." Tim Berners Lee

Value Cultural depth and open Learning win-wins by exploring the social learning hybrid of Ma and Lee. Study how both these guys respond to short-term soundbiting journalism and MBA-Walked-Street mindset by saying something like the web as I imagine IT we have not seen it yet - IT is so much bigger humanly.Ma concepts: BtoC (Business to Customer) and mobilising how DT (replaces IT) Clinton Global this week minute 37 of valuing what matters video - internet is best university; mobile phone (it to dt technology making other people better you too can be successful - help young people succeed, help young people to reach new things )

OPTIMISM MA-LEE

Talk the walk about celebrating 2 human dreams that need to positively co-create from opposite sides of the world, and its future history as far as humans can positively interact with each other and with nature, and in terms of helping the next generation be fully involved in their futures work. Tim Berners Lee spends his life defending open technology and inspiring open tech wizards out of MIT. Jack Ma leaves technology to co-workers as long as Ali Baba is on track to create more jobs out of china than anyone else in the world (can imagine)

Ali Baba is actually very simple. From day one we decided we would make it easy for people to do business anywhere. We are here to help entrepreneurs. Because it is very hard for me to start my own business, if you will pardon my french it was damn hard. Really hard. Every day I would worry whether we would have enough money. If one customer bought my products , it felt like he was even closer to me than my own father. Small businesses are difficult to run especially in China. So we wanted to use internet and help small businesses succeed. The internet can help small ideas become reality. Without the internet where would google. yahoo. facebook or tencent be?

If we could turn every small tech into a small business or a small idea that would be wonderful. Some people say that Ali Baba isn't helping small businesses. They say they are helping Taobao's consumers . Before I left Hangzhou for the US, I emphasised again to my management team that Ali Baba is not a company for consumers. From day 1 our mission has been to make it easy to do business anywhere. We know that small businesses need customers. I knew that we didnt have the right DNA to become a consumer company. The world is changing very fast and it is hard to gauge consumers needs. Small businesses know more about the needs of their customers. So we knew what we have to do, we had to empower our power sellers and our SMEs to support their customers. We should use technology to help our small businesses grow, and become more adaptable to the future consumer market.

We hope that small businesses can use technology to challenge the large enterprises. The big companies have money, influence and connections. We hope that every young person won't need a rich father or a powerful uncle. As long as you are willing to try you have every chance of succeeding, Its easier said than done. If Jack Ma can succeed, everyone else can. However you must have a good sense of direction and the right tools. These days a lot of young people would climb up to the rooftops and shout about the importance of political and economical reforms, but is this what they should focus on? People may criticise me because of my position: why are you not promoting political reform? I would say is there anything you can do about it? So what if we changed the system? And most of the people who asked this question already had foreign passports. Its easy for them to flee the country. They dont have to be responsible for any consequences. We need to turn our dreams into dreams of our society and nation. Sometimes a country's dream can be quite successful. But does it have anything to do with you? Not necessarily. But when everybody's dream becomes true, society will prosper. So we hope that our generation can follow this idea.

This is a very interesting era as the whole world changes - nothing will happen to you unless you act. If you act you may benefit

A first time I was on CCTV they followed me around as I went to one ministry to the next advocating the internet. On reviewing the film the producers said we cannot n use this 1 because its a very sensitive topic and 2) jack ma looks like a bad guy

In all these years nobody every told me I was smart or capable

I started working on the internet in late 1994.

I must have been first person in china to conduct business on the internet,

I was doing it for 6 months before my earliest competition.

In china I was lonely - visits to silicon valley cheered me up; everyone was hopeful and full of ideas, When I got back to china I asked myself what we should do to catch up?

I became more fearless. I was asked to speak at Harvard around 2001.

Looking back I was very naive but there were 3 reasons for our eventual success :

first we had no money

second we didnt understand technology,

third we never planned

The Harvard professors were not pleased to hear this but the students were very pleased

Why didn't we have any money?. I was a teacher in my early career. Then I started a business after working at the ministry of foreign trade where I was a contractor. All I had saved was 50000 rmb

whenever we spent money on anything it might be our last chance. All our competitors were stronger than me/ I later realised that many entrepreneurs did'nt make it not because they didn't have enough money but because they had too much

Because when you try to solve problems with money that is when your real problems start

I believe that money cannot not solve all the problems. Money is just an important tactic in problem-solving

So when People have money and say: so I can do this- that is the start of their failure

Today Ali Baba might have one of China's or even the world's largest cash reserves amongst internet companies

Our company's culture is that a company's assets are like a country's armed forecs

You cannot use it lightly but if you ever do you must win

Personally, I really don;t know what coding is about

Even today I still don;t understand the technology behind the internet

However that doesn't mean I dont respect technology

At Ali Baba I don't think I have ever argued over technology these last 14 years

I think it is a tragedy for our engineers that their ceo doesnt understand technology but they are also lucky their ceo doesnt understand technology. If their ceo ujnderstands technology, he will be looking over their shoulders every day and they wont be able to get any work done, Instead I have great respect for our technical team,

That's because I haven't written even one line of code

I don't test any of the codes but it impacts ten of thousands of people , that's why I have great respect for those people who turned our fantasies into realty.

I show my respect to the engineers: it is you who have changed the world

If we cannot turn our vision into reality its not worth a penny

A lot of people think Ali Baba has no technolgoy because their ceo jack ma doesn't understand technology

That is very true and has caused injustice for some engineers

When I am asked: why are you in the internet industry when you don't understand the technology?

I reply you are in real estate but do you know ho to build houses?

These are 2 different concepts. Outsiders can lead experts , the. key is in respecting the experts

Since I dont understand the technology, when I was the only tester in the early days, I tested whether the things were useful or not/ My experience with technology is similar to 80% of our users. We respect technology but we are afraid of it.

We just need it be useful

If we ca'nt use the technology, regardless of how good it is, it us useless

ALI BABA

So early on, we see ourselves as appliance makers

If this thing was too complex and required a manual to understand it, we would never make it

So at that time I was a product tester but I have to retire now because I dont even test my products any more,. Technology is changing so fast that I realised young people were the better testers than I am. So why should I be a CEO?

If, like me, you are too old to understand technology then respect it, appreciate it and revere it,

Technology is very important.

The people behind the technology are even more important/

Without belief , technology is just a tool. If people believe in the technology, the technology becomes productive, innovative and can impact society

So in not understanding technology I feel proud because I have a different mentality

I don't think the world, or china, lacks technology, it lacks appreciation and reverence for it/

Thod we have no plan

I have never written a business plan

OK its true we wrote one before we started to seek funding

I wrote, it presented it to silicon valley and was told this was wrong and that was wrong

From then on I never wrote a business plan

If you wrote a business plan in 1996 you were either lying to others or yourself

You have no idea what will happen

How can you write such a detailed plan for investors

I dont know what will happen

I could ask as Stanford MBA to write a very nice looking plan for me. Is it useful?. NO!

It is only useful if you executed your plan. Right?

So i decided not to write plans but to accept that our life is a plan slowly unfolding

It is OK for the CEO not to have a plan

So a lot of young people thought so its ok not to have a plan. Not Exactly!

Other people in our company need to have very good plans

This our company

Ali Baba is actually very simple

I often told our team I knew Ali Baba had a future but I never thought it would be this big

We live in a very interesting time . The time of the most complaints. It is the worst of times and the best of times. Nobody is happy in China now .It probably isn't much different than any other country. The grass is always greener.

The Chinese go to the US and feel that China is better in some ways

Then we go back top China and feel the US is better in some ways

In China the government doesn't trust the people,

and the people don't trust the government;

the people dont truss the media , and the media doesnt trust the people.

Nobody is happy. The rich are not happy nor are the poor

Why? because we are living in a time of constant change

If you look back upon china's economy over the last 30 years

I believe that 30 year ago Deng Peng would never have guessed where China would be tpday

Thirty years ago entrepreneurs never imagined China being where it is today

Actually China has undergone amazing changes

And we never thought the economy would develop so well and the environment would be so bad

We never thought the peoples would become so restless

The haves want to have a better life, and the have nots want to become richer

China is also going to change over the next 30 years

However any change and any social conflict is an opportunity for young people

If things do not change, nobody here has a chance

When we followed the path of industrialization everything was done in a set way

There were no opportunities for you (students)

Change is what will give our young people opportunities

I enjoy the challenges that change brings

When I was young, my dad hoped that I would focus on one thing However I never focused on one thing. I felt that not being focused is actually the greatest focus

My dad asked me to learn calligraphy

and mine was as indecipherable as China's oracle bone inscriptions

I developed my own style of handwriting; my handwriting was so ugly

It looked like it was trying to draw a picture of something

As I can never write better than others, I decided to just draw pictures

Why? Its because we have to adapt to an ever evolving world

As long as you adapt to changes you will be OK

If you don't chnage , you have no chance

If you change, you may stand a chance

So I am grateful for these wonderful times

Sometimes we regret certain things

For instance sa a young boy I had always wished that I was born in a period of war, I could have been a General! I thought I could have achieved that in war. But if you really think about it: is war really a good thing? The worst thing in the world is war. But today we don't need to use weapons. Instead use economic development and innovation to impact and influence people.

Today you don't have to be a prime minister. Don't have to be a governor or a minister to influence millions of people. Even if it is a small idea or app. As long as you identify with what you are working on, you can still change the world. I feel that this is something really interesting.

So when I started my business: if jack ma succeed, then 80% of young people can also succeed, I really wanted to prove this point.

It took me 7 years to finish elementary school. Really. Our schooling was so bad that no middle school existed so we had to stay on an extra year. In Hangzhou, there was a middle school that only existed for one year. It was called Tiansu middle school. One year none of its graduates were acepeed by any middle school so it had to change itself into a middle school

I took the entrance exam to college 3 times. I could never even of dreamed about Stanford.

I've sinbe come a long way, all due to hard work, And the fact is that I live in good times with good friends and good luck. Luck is very important. Without it, I wouldnt have gotten this far . Of course you can't wait for luck, because it wont come. Luck is an interesting thing. Its like seeds that have to be sown. Luck and wealth are the same thing. Some people believe in god ov Buddha but I am still shopping around. Some people may stay that your wealth may be pre-destined. They say if you exceed a certain amount say one million, you'll experience a stream of bad luck Or they say that if you have good opportunities, then bad things will start after the sixth opportunity.

If you are feeling that you are having good luck , feel free to share it with other people, sew the seeds of good luck in other people's yards and eventually the seeds will sprout. That will likely bring you more luck.

Ali Baba is actually very simple. From day one we decided we would make it easy for people to do business anywhere. We are here to help entrepreneurs. Because it is very hard for me to start my own business, if you will pardon my french it was damn hard. Really hard. Every day I would worry whether we would have enough money. If one customer bought my products , it felt like he was even closer to me than my own father. Small businesses are difficult to run especially inChina. So we wanted to use internet and help small businesses succeed. The internet can help small ideas become reality. Without the internet where would google. yahoo. facebook or tencent be? If we could turn every small tech into a small business or a small idea that would be wonderful. Some people say that Ali Baba isn't helping small businesses. They say they are helping Taobao's consumers . Before I left Hangzhou for the US, I emphasised again to my management team that Ali Baba is not a company for consumers. From day 1 our mission has been to make it easy to do business anywhere. We know that small businesses need customers. I knew that we didnt have the right DNA to become a consumer company. The world is changing very fast and it is hard to gauge consumers needs. Small businesses know more about the needs of their customers. So we knew what we have to do, we had to empower our power sellers and our SMEs to support their customers. We should use technology to help our small businesses grow, and become more adaptable to the future consumer market. We hope that small businesses can use technology to challenge the large enterprises. The big companies have money, influence and connections. We hope that every young person won't need a rich father or a powerful uncle. As long as you are willing to try you have every chance of succeeding, Its easier said than done. If Jack Ma can succeed, everyone else can. However you must have a good sense of direction and the right tools. These days a lot of young people would climb up to the rooftops and shout about the importance of political and economical reforms, but is this what they should focus on? People may criticise me because of my position: why are you not promoting political reform? I would say is there anything you can do about it? So what if we changed the system? And most of the people who asked this question already had foreign passports. Its easy for them to flee the country. They dont have to be responsible for any consequences. We need to turn our dreams into dreams of our society and nation. Sometimes a country's dream can be quite successful. But does it have anything to do with you? Not necessarily. But when everybody's dream becomes true, society will prosper. So we hope that our generation can follow this idea.

Who are Alibaba's competitors? In the past we said ebay, yahoo and google. We competed with everyone. We were a captive of war. But actually we are competing with the previous generation.We are competing with the future. What is our view about the future? What's our hope for society? What's our hope for the people we care about?If we follow this mentality, the world may become a better place.

Some things have to be done by politicians, but most things are dome by entrepreneurs. They are done by young people. Ali Baba wants to contribute to this process. Make it happen. It doesnt matter how big your dream is.; the key is whether you can do it and do it well Ali Baba has become what we are today but we still have the same dream. From a market, business and idealistic perspective, we hope society will make progress. Today's market is huge. China has countless small businesses and so does the USA. So does Africa,. Places that have small businesses represent opportunities for us. Second if there are no small businesses, we should break up the large ones.

Speaking of the future: in the industrial age, we expanded on the scale of economy for success. In the information age, we rely on innovation and customisation for success. Big data will gradually drive large companies to become smaller ones or even into bankruptcy. This will make small businesses agile and interesting. This is the era of customisation. So I am very glod I can live in this age. I never thought ali baba would have lived to see this day, but I always figure somebody will. We are an unusual company. In the past 10 years or so, we have kept video records of my participation in all of our company activities. We've recorded them, all dvds are there. If we failed we become a case study and others can learn from our failure. On the other hand if we succeeded, people would ask how did they make this great move?

I've been quite vocal in the past. Ali Baba might fail , but whomever follow Ali Baba's path will likely succeed. We might have failed because we were not smart enough, or we didnt change or changed in the wrong way. But as long as people take our lead, sooner or later they will succeed. We have helped countless small businesses. People might ask: if you aim to help small businesses, are you getting into financing? Let me tell you something for both Alipay and Aliloan. we're not really trying to make more money. China has a lot of banks. And they are huge. When I founded Hangzhou Hope Translation Agency in the 1990s- in order to apply for a 50000 RMB loan, I put up everything in my store as collateral. I even pulled all the strings but still couldn't get a loan. Today we could use technology to help small businesses. so they dont need a guarantor or use assets as collateral. They could get a loan approved based on trust. We let trust become an asset .This is the mission of Aliloan. When people's actions are based on trust,, and trust becomes an asset, that is when our society will be empowered with positive energy.

Earlier we talked about "one dollar" What does a dollar mean? Means I trust you. We believe, as many of our colleagues say: beggars could get a loan too. Why cant a beggar get a loan? As long as he says from today onwards, I will take trust seriously. Why not give him a loan? But in order to make this happen, we need a lot of technology. Strategic thinking and strong belief. That's why our generation is intriguing. In the past, you need guns and cannons to change the world. nowadays you need vision and technology. Technology can change many people's lives. We never thought this would happen. My proudest moment come to think of it is when I dine out- someone tells me Jack Ma , someone took care of your bill. When I waited for my car in front of a hotel, a guy comes over opens the door and says: Thanks Jack I work here. My daughter and wife own a Taobao stall, and they make more money than me. Once I had dinner and an anonym\ous person passed me a cigar and said than you I made a lot of money on Taoboa. We feel this is our contribution to society. Sometimes I feel a bit embarrassed as I dint really do anything. All I did was ask my team to go for it and move forward. Do you agree? Other than that, I didnt do much. This is an interesting generation. So that's Ali Baba's mission. Its the same here in silicon valley. Countless companies -one after another work hard to change peoples lives. ForChina, as for the rest of the world- the next 30 years will be the most dynamic and turbulent years for us. For those with a true vision, I believe that today's ever-changing environment is an age for the younger generation.

Coming here today I especially want to thank one person : and that is silicon valley. I thank the streetlights every night. I thank the bad traffic. Traffic -earlier I talked about the traffic in Hangzhou. In today's world it is hard to fond good traffic - maybe in North Korea. But we human beings always find a solution. Maybe not today, but if you really want to solve a problem, there's always a way. Without those traffic and street lights in Silicon Valley, without those people chatting in the late night restaurants, without these encouragements and intensities, we'd never be where we are today.

The Ali Baba group has been doing well. We hope to come to America and increase our investment here. We don't invest here to compete with somebody. But we come with gratitude. The American Dream that was ignited here didnt only inspire Americans, it has also helped countless Chinese people. I didn't go to school in America. But I appreciate, I am grateful, am grateful there is a place in this world Silicon Valley which has created many legendary stories/ But some of these sparks may or may not be ignited into flames here. Fierce competition prevents some sparks from growing. Then they should head over to Hangzhou

Some people say: Jack your purchase of Yahoo China was untimely. It was so expensive. I dont think it was expensive at all. If I had to do it over again, I would still make the purchase. I mean it. Some people like to cover up their mistakes. Ah I didnt do that! But Yahoo China, the deal means a lot to me. We just didnt do it in the traditional way. Once you buy a company, it becomes part of your own growth. And we grow bigger and bigger. We just ate yahoo and digested it. If it weren't for the idea of yahoo, without the thinking of their engineers, we couldnt have arrived at the P4P advertising platform. Yahoo search and Yahoo china were not big enough for P4P advertising. We couldn't grow our ali baba baby with yahoo China alone. We had to invest in Taobao for our baby to grow up. China has a huge market to consume many new ideas now. Its hard to imagine there are 100 million consumers daily on Taobao, That's nearly half of American consumers swamping your store to shop. You can turn something ordinary into a blooming business. You cant imagine the rapid growth of the cities in China's inner provinces. You cant imagine - people here are always worrying abuot this and that. If you haven't crossed the river, there's always something to worry about. But once you cross it, you are on the other side. So we hope to do more in America, and not only compete.

Finally the Chinese New Year has passed. Like the rest of you, I spent the time off catching up and staying abreast with the latest developments and changes in the Internet. Today, I would like to share with you my thoughts over the holiday, along with some of the key points from our management discussion a few days ago.

What is Alibaba’s strategy?

In our opinion, we are now progressing from the conventional Information Technology (IT) era, to the new Data Technology (DT) era where the prime focus is on leveraging productivity. This is not just an upgrade of technology, but a major paradigm shift.

Our goal for the next 10 years: to establish a DT infrastructure for commercial development in China.

Since we adopted an “open data platform” strategy five years ago, we invested heavily on the “Cloud” (cloud computing and big data). From our observation today, even though the mobile “App” market is lucrative and promising, we should still continue to invest in the “Cloud”. The cloud platform (comprising “Cloud” + “App”) will be the key to the future of mobile internet. Although we are somewhat falling behind on the “App” aspect now, the good news is that the vibrant “App” market is still in its early stage.

This year, we will strike out from “Cloud” to “App” – with our might and determination, not circumstances.

How should Alibaba proceed in this mobile internet age?

Mobile commerce will be the most important aspect in mobile internet.

We have the largest merchandize, user, and transaction database in the world; the largest payment platform and credit system in the world; and the most secure and fastest cloud computing platform in the world… all these resources – we must learn to share them, and how to share them properly. Thus to develop an efficient and cost-effective commercial infrastructure, and enable more people to participants in the development of this new paradigm founded on Big Data.

We must move along with our hundreds of millions of customers to Data Technology (DT).

How? “Cloud” leads “App”, and “Cloud” enriches “App”. Create value out of data and enhance user experience. Speed up the development of the mobile commerce ecosystem.

And now each of you should know what your role is in this big picture.

What values should we hold on to?

Customer first. That’s everyone’s duty.

Be vigilant and cautious.

Cost conscious in spite of good financial health.

Dear all, Alibaba was never a follower of hot trends. Of the 15 years since we established, we gave up messaging, portal, games… we focused but only on e-commerce. For 15 years we strived and worked hard, bringing e-commerce from niche to mainstream, and now being part of our daily lives and a hot trend in its own right. We are proud – not because how much we have shipped or earned over a year, but because we have kindled the hopes of millions of entrepreneurs and innovators. We have created more than 15 million direct or indirect employment opportunities, and became a major tax payer in the country. We are honored to witness and take part in the economic reform and development of our nation.

Today, our management and operation efficiency is highly enhanced as we rely on our own cloud computing platform, which also supports almost 10 million e-commerce enterprises and countless number of mobile developers. Our cloud platform is seeing more businesses from others sectors such as financial, medical, administration, transportation, meteorology, large storage and content delivery. Cloud platform – we know it from the inside-out.

Concerning mobile internet, I do have my apprehensions. My anxieties, however, are not triggered by Tencent’s successful “Red Packet” campaign, or our ability to identify new entry points into the market, or whether or not we can come up with a few killer apps. My worries are, we could easily lose our directions in the comfort and satisfaction of self-assurance, or being too mindful of competition. As such, we might lose sight of what we are best at, what we should do in the next 3 years, how many traditional enterprises are waiting to embrace mobile commerce, and how many new commercial frontiers are out there waiting for our discovery. We might just forget we need to keep climbing to our goals each and every day.

It’s only when we understand what we have, what we need, what to give up, then we won’t lose our directions.

Competition is omnipresent in the commercial world – there’s always someone out there who can do a better job than us, or there’s always surprise or shock brought by innovation and technology… nonetheless, we commit ourselves to do better than our competitors in positively driving the economy – because this is our reward and opportunity.

From this very moment on there’s much that we need to accomplish. Let me remind you all, we shall strictly commit to our “Customer First” principle. Each of you will soon feel the difference we are making for 2014.

2014 is the year of “Cloud” + “App”, and Alibaba is “ALL-IN” with mobile-commerce. Each of you please be vigilant and stay on guard, so that your teammates can confidently trust their backs with you. We are on the same boat, and this boat today is more than just the 25,000 of us…

Change and revolution will inevitably bring about pain and discomfort to each of us. But in 10 years, China’s commercial landscape shall become more transparent, open, trustworthy, and prosperous – because of our hard work today.

Your pain and discomfort shall be the trophy of your commitment!

Jack Ma - Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group

29 Feb 2014

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Aug 19, 2014 | 02:36 PM

The city of the future may look a little like this: you swipe your phone to buy a ticket when boarding a bus that runs on a schedule derived from data about passenger loads. When you get to your destination, your phone pushes you offers for restaurants, hotels, and shops nearby while you pay for everything on the go with only your smartphone.

This virtually cashless city where algorithms crunch data to predict your preferences is already becoming reality in Hangzhou, China, where a tie-up between e-payments provider Alipay; AliCloud, the networking and data arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group; and the district government has led to the creation of a “big data” zone, where consumers can shop without their wallets at 400 retails and entertainment outlets.

Jack Ma, Alibaba Group’s founder and executive chairman, predicted that in five years information technology will shift into an era where the big, life-changing advances will originate from big data and cloud computing industries. AliCloud, responsible for developing data technologies already in use by hundreds of thousands of China’s small businesses, is positioned to benefit from this shift by making big-data analysis accessible and useful to all companies, not just giant corporations.

Last month, AliCloud rolled out a platform that seeks to make it easier and cheaper for any company in China to crunch data using its propriety algorithms. The platform, called an Open Data Processing Service or ODPS for short, was previously only available to Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com merchants. Companies only need to pay a fee of a few hundred Renminbi each month to use the platform.

ODPS works a bit like an electrical adaptor--companies plug their data into the platform and then key in the parameters they want to analyze. Using ODPS’s cloud computing power and algorithms, they can then extract valuable nuggets of information to use in their businesses.

For example, an apparel company on Tmall can input their historical sales data into ODPS and then select search parameters. “Our algorithms will be able to scan and predict things like future sales, or which products will sell well in the next season,” said Tang Zinan, the AliCloud ODPS product manager.

ODPS’s secret sauce is its sheer computing power. It has the ability to process in six hours 100 petabtyes of data, equivalent about 100 million high-definition movies. Allowing companies to tap this power without heavy capital spending on IT infrastructure is game-changing for smaller companies, Tang said.

AliCloud’s President Ben Wang announced on Tuesday, a plan to build a comprehensive cloud eco-system in China by recruiting thousands of industry partners and experts, in order to wean Chinese companies off the traditional methods of data processing, which require high infrastructure and software costs.

“The high capital costs involved in building data centers or hiring data engineers is not a problem for large companies, but it is not possible for small companies to achieve this,” Tang said. “ODPS allows small companies to be on the same footing as large companies when it comes to the ability to analyze data. We are essentially leveling the playing field for everyone.”

Currently, the main users of the ODPS platform are retailers and advertisers on Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com, and Internet marketing service Alimama, who use it predict consumer trends, detect popular keywords and in other ways to give their businesses an edge.

ODPS is also used by Alibaba’s related companies such as Small and Micro Financial Services Company (SMFSC) and some Chinese insurance companies to assess creditworthiness. For example, the small business enterprise loan unit formerly known as Ali-Loan has been using ODPS to examine the loan applications of thousands of small online businesses, Tang said. By analyzing an applicant’s store transaction data, logistics data and store rating, the loan team is able to see if the applicant is eligible for a loan and what the loan cap should be.

Even Alibaba’s scannable drug technology, which aims to make every package of pharmaceutical drug sold in China traceable electronically, has its underlying technology routed through ODPS.

From loans to pharmaceuticals, Alibaba is placing big bets on big data and cloud technology. But the company’s strategy is not just focused on analysis, but also on storage of data and the creation of synergies between various government institutions, banks and hospitals, to create personalized and more intuitive services for users.

Technology consultancy IDC estimates that cloud spending will jump by 25 percent in 2014 to over $100 billion while spending on big data technologies and services will grow by 30 percent to more than $14 billion as the demand for big data analytics continues to rise.

The commercial district in Hangzhou is the latest addition to the ever expanding service scope of Alipay Wallet, Alipay’s mobile application. Alipay Wallet has been expanding its offline-to-offline functions and integrating it with back-end big data technology to give users a seamless experience. In June, Alipay Wallet started teaming up with hospitals across China to let patients book doctor appointments, receive test results and make hospital bill payments through their mobile phones. Alipay is also working with more Chinese city governments to widen the use of near field communication technology for passenger payments in subways and buses.

“Big data is such a hot trend that every industry hopes to be one driven by data,” Tang said. “ODPS can be that underlying platform to enable business.”.

Frequently Asked Questions

According to Ma, Alibaba puts its priorities in the following order – customers first, employees second, and shareholders third. If an employee is trying to make his or her boss happy, the company will not succeed. Employees must act to make customers happy. Accordingly, problems with the service or tough competition from rival firms are not to be lamented over. Such problems are opportunities, plain and simple. The key is being able to act quickly to take advantage of those opportunities. “Just having good ideas in your head doesn’t matter. You have to put them into action, take initiative, be autonomous,” Ma exhorted. Technology driven by big data – what Ma referred to as data technology (DT) – will make it easier for companies to take care of their customers. “We will see a shift to C2B, in other words, it’s all about customisation […] it is not about cost competition any longer, we have to compete against value,” he explained. Customer needs are more articulated than ever before. For Ma, shipping a container of clothing with 10,000 of the same shirt is not as good as shipping 10,000 shirts of multiple, customer-selected styles. There is no marketing plan, there is only satisfying individual needs through data and logistical prowess.

Alibaba Cloud Computing, the cloud computing subsidiary of Alibaba Group, and the Hainan International Tourism Island Pilot Zone, a district in the touristy Chinese island of Hainan, have a signed a strategic agreement that will see RMB 5 billion ($815 million) invested into the area to make it into a cloud computing and big data “intelligent city.”

Under the agreement, Alibaba Cloud Computing will provide Hainan’s local government, residents and tourists cloud computing and big data services, said an Alibaba Group press release. Alibaba Cloud Computing will also build e-government and urban management platforms in order to digitize some public services. Alipay, the e-payment affiliate of Alibaba Group, committed to provide online payment services to consumers and residents on Hainan, as well as O2O payment solutions to the island’s businesses.

Alibaba officials did not say how much the company was investing in the project under the agreement.

“We are going through a time of change,” said Jack Ma, Alibaba Group’s executive chairman, during a Feb. 27 signing ceremony. “Consumption patterns are changing, lifestyles are changing and business infrastructure is changing. In five years, we anticipate that the human era will move from the information technology era to the data technology era.”

Ma said in a Feb 28 internal memo to staff that he believes the next 10 years will bring great opportunity in the areas of cloud and mobile computing and that it is Alibaba’s 10-year goal to create data technology infrastructure to support modern and rapidly developing Chinese businesses. Ma said the point of data technology is to use big data to generate value and increase the richness of experiences for users. Data technology encompasses cloud computing, e-commerce and mobile, all of which are strategic areas for Alibaba.

“Mobile commerce will be the most important area of focus in the era of the mobile Internet,” said Ma. "Our goal for this decade is to create data technology era and data technology infrastructure in order to support the growth of Chinese businesses".

Alibaba Group will also move the headquarters of its digital entertainment and gaming business unit to Hainan’s pilot zone and open a branch of its Taobao University in the area.

Alibaba Cloud Computing, which provides data storage and cloud services to millions of online shops operating on Alibaba Group shopping websites Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com, has been pushing into the financial services and government sectors. In December, Alibaba Cloud Computing was awarded the world’s first gold certific... by the British Standards Institute.

Alibaba Cloud Computing, the cloud computing subsidiary of Alibaba Group, and the Hainan International Tourism Island Pilot Zone, a district in the touristy Chinese island of Hainan, have a signed a strategic agreement that will see RMB 5 billion ($815 million) invested into the area to make it into a cloud computing and big data “intelligent city.”

Under the agreement, Alibaba Cloud Computing will provide Hainan’s local government, residents and tourists cloud computing and big data services, said an Alibaba Group press release. Alibaba Cloud Computing will also build e-government and urban management platforms in order to digitize some public services. Alipay, the e-payment affiliate of Alibaba Group, committed to provide online payment services to consumers and residents on Hainan, as well as O2O payment solutions to the island’s businesses.

Alibaba officials did not say how much the company was investing in the project under the agreement.

“We are going through a time of change,” said Jack Ma, Alibaba Group’s executive chairman, during a Feb. 27 signing ceremony. “Consumption patterns are changing, lifestyles are changing and business infrastructure is changing. In five years, we anticipate that the human era will move from the information technology era to the data technology era.”

Ma said in a Feb 28 internal memo to staff that he believes the next 10 years will bring great opportunity in the areas of cloud and mobile computing and that it is Alibaba’s 10-year goal to create data technology infrastructure to support modern and rapidly developing Chinese businesses. Ma said the point of data technology is to use big data to generate value and increase the richness of experiences for users. Data technology encompasses cloud computing, e-commerce and mobile, all of which are strategic areas for Alibaba.

“Mobile commerce will be the most important area of focus in the era of the mobile Internet,” said Ma. "Our goal for this decade is to create data technology era and data technology infrastructure in order to support the growth of Chinese businesses".

Alibaba Group will also move the headquarters of its digital entertainment and gaming business unit to Hainan’s pilot zone and open a branch of its Taobao University in the area.

Alibaba Cloud Computing, which provides data storage and cloud services to millions of online shops operating on Alibaba Group shopping websites Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com, has been pushing into the financial services and government sectors. In December, Alibaba Cloud Computing was awarded the world’s first gold certific... by the British Standards Institute.

half of online payments in china go through alipay.com' Ma has said he doesnt see alipay has a profit centre but integral to all services of the company - finance is likely to go through a lot of change in china over next 5 years -watch for al baba strategy and partnberships in this sector -it may impact how his whole vision for internet plays out

Cloud (Cloud + App) will be key to the future of the mobile Interne...http://www.wantinews.com/).' He stressed that Alibaba has the world's largest commodity, user, transaction database, the world's largest payment platform and credit system, the world's most secure and efficient cloud computing platform, 'these resources, we need to know how to share and learn to share, build more low-cost, high-efficiency business community, enable more people to participate and the construction of new commercial civilization. '

Ali’s 15 years’ effort. “We are proud that we have witnessed and participated in the reformation and development of Chinese economic society.” “The business environment of China will be of more transparency, openness, integrity and prosperity because of our effort today.”

The following is the main part of the letter which elucidates the strategy clearly.

(1) What is Alibaba’s strategy?

1. We think that the IT Era with control as its starting point is heading for DT (data technology) Era, which is not only a technological update but more a huge revolution in thinking and consciousness.

2. Our target in ten years: to build the infrastructure for Chinese commercial development in DT Era.

3. Since Alibaba targeted “opening data platform” five years ago, we put much attention to the “cloud” (cloud computing and big data), on which we should still insist in spite of the prevailing wireless clients. “Cloud+App” will be the crux of future mobile Internet. Our performance on app hasn’t been satisfying thus far, but fortunately the colorful app market has just begun.

4. We will fight from cloud to app thoroughly this year!

(2) In the era of mobile Internet, how will Alibaba go?

1. Mobile E-business will surely be the most important field in the era of mobile Internet.

2. We have – the world’s largest database of goods, users and transactions; the world’s largest payment platform and credit system; the world’s safest cloud computing platform at the highest speed… These resources are what we have to know to share and learn how to share, to build a commercial society at a lower cost and a higher efficiency, enabling more people participate in the construction of new business culture based on big data.

which millennials' diaspora network would like to twin with sino millennials in debates of technology's greatest job creating revolutions 2015-2025

hot topics suggested as of fall 2014:

hence if we can find which millennials of african or chinese diaspora want to link these constructs we have unique trade that all sustainable jobs creating millennails can then join in with

ma hypothesis 1 - why not design internet so a continent's largest market frees everyone to market their produce

-he's designed that for china - he does this by calling his virtual markets supersellers those who most deeply source produce from people sustaining their communities

ma's 2nd hypothesis is that data has only be massively organised by the biggest organisations - why not design the cloud and mobile so all the peoples can access mobile answers from big data;s analysis - this sounds compatible with the grameen intel idea to me

The african idea is a reality not a hypothesis - having an elearning satellite with continent-wide reach www.yazmi.com

Perhaps there are other empowerment solutions (eg africa's nanocredit) to connect in the same dialogue- however if enough millennials know how to connect all of the above at the same time then we can get back to the internet of berner lee's dreams- "The Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past." Tim Berners Lee

Back in 1984 our youth economics and educators guide to net generation freedoms to 2025 anticipated that early in 21st C discrepancies in incomes and expectations of rich and poor nations would compound humanity's greatest risks,and open education curricula crisis

Dad (Norman Macrae) created the genre Entrepreneurial Revolution to debate how to make the net generation the most productive and collaborative . We had first participated in computer assisted learning experiments in 1972. Welcome to more than 40 years of linking pro-youth economics networks- debating can the internet be the smartest media our species has ever collaborated around?

1972: Norman Macrae starts up Entrepreneurial Revolution debates in The Economist. Will we the peoples be in time to change 20th C largest system designs and make 2010s worldwide youth's most productive time? or will we go global in a way that ends sustainability of ever more villages/communities? Drayton was inspired by this genre to coin social entrepreneur in 1978 ,,continue the futures debate here